MOSCOW, January 11 - RAPSI. Russian federal investigators will begin its preliminary investigation of reports alleging that opposition activist and blogger Rustem Adagamov engaged in pedophilia, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told journalists on Friday.

He said that the blogger's ex-wife's claims made to the press regarding alleged relations between Adagamov and an under-aged girl in Norway were the reasons for the investigation.

He added that the preliminary investigation arose from claims that Adagamov's ex-wife made to the media regarding illicit sexual relations between the blogger and an under-aged girl in Norway.

"In an interview with Izvestia newspaper and Russia Today TV channel, Tatyana Delsal reported that when living in Norway Rustem Adagamov committed sexual crimes against an under-aged girl over the course of several years," Markin said.

Adagamov, also known as the Drugoi ("other") blogger, is one of LiveJournal's most popular users, with around 80,000 subscribers.

In addition, he is a member of the Russian Opposition's Coordination Council.

Norwegian attorney Bernt Christian Birkeland previously told RIA Novosti that the victim should refer to the police in order for an investigation to be opened over Adagamov's actions, but in some cases police officers can start an investigation even without an application from the victim.

He said that if charges of rape of a minor are brought against the blogger, the case may reach the courts, but if he is accused of a crime of lesser gravity, the state of limitations may already have expired.